McCaskill on Kavanaugh Nomination: ‘This Is Not a Political Winner’

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) said Wednesday morning she is going to upset a lot of people with her Supreme Court vote whether she votes to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh or not, saying the choice is "not a political winner."

The Missouri Democrat said calls and emails coming into her office are evenly split between those who want her to vote for and against Kavanaugh, Roll Callreports.

"There is no political calculation on this vote. No matter how I vote, there’s going to be a lot of people who are not going to be happy with it," McCaskill said.

McCaskill said she has to make the case to voters that she is willing to be an independent voice from her party, something she said the Republican nominee, state Attorney General Josh Hawley, will not be.

"I’ve taken some very difficult positions against my party … but I kept at it because I felt it was the right thing to do. I think that’s the big difference that people are going to see with these two candidates," she said.

On Aug. 3, minutes after Democratic leadership lifted its "boycott" on members meeting with Kavanaugh, McCaskill announced to reporters that she had scheduled a meeting with the candidate for Aug. 21.

Democratic Sens. Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Heidi Heitcamp (N.D.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.) – the three Democrats who voted to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court last year – scheduled a meeting with Kavanaugh without getting permission from leadership.

Hawley has already announced support for Kavanaugh and is drawing attention to McCaskill's undecided vote in a state President Donald Trump won by over 18 points in 2016.

Conor BeckEmail Conor | Full Bio | RSSConor Beck is a Media Analyst for the WFB. He's previously written for The College Fix, Life News, and was a Student Free Press Association Fellow for The Weekly Standard. He graduated from Rice University in 2017.